Abortions — legal or otherwise — may be increasing in Latin American countries where the Zika virus is spreading, new research suggests.

The data, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, provide an early glimpse of a hard-to-track phenomenon that may be altering the way this unprecedented Zika outbreak is recorded in the annals of medical history.

Requests for abortion-inducing drugs shot up in some Zika-affected countries after the alarm was raised about Zika infection in pregnancy, according to researchers who analyzed traffic to the website of an international nonprofit organization that provides the drugs early in pregnancy. The requests rose by between 36 and 108 percent. Abortion restrictions are widespread across Central and South America.

This study determined the prevalence and nature of police crime in the United States based on arrest statistics; identified factors that influenced how an agency responded to arrests of its officers; and examined whether officer arrests correlated with other forms of police misconduct.

Abstract:

Google News searches identified 6,724 cases nationwide during 2005 through 2011. The arrests involved 5,545 individual sworn officers employed by 2,529 non-Federal State and local law enforcement agencies in 1,205 counties and independent cities in all 50 States and the District of Columbia. The rate of officers arrested was 0.72 officers arrested per 1,000 officers or a rate of 1.7 officers per 100,000 population nationwide. Data and discussion are provided for the following types of crime for which police were arrested: sex-related crimes, alcohol-related crimes, drug-related crimes, violence-related crimes, and profit-motivated crimes. The cases identified in this research stemmed largely from opportunities inherent in the context of police work, although 60 percent of all of the cases identified in this study occurred when the officer was technically off-duty. The organizational response to police crimes varied widely across all of these crime types. An arrest in itself mattered much less than the type of underlying criminal behavior that prompted the arrest. Sworn officers were known to have lost their jobs in only 38 percent of the alcohol-related cases, but lost their jobs in 72 percent of the sex-related arrests and 70 percent of the drug-related cases. The odds that an officer will lose his/her job increased significantly if they were criminally convicted on at least one charged offense. This study recommends that State and local law enforcement agencies conduct routine annual criminal background checks of every sworn officer and install comprehensive personnel assessment systems that collect a wide range of data. 84 tables, 28 figures, and approximately 150 references

The shakeup comes amid a growing sex scandal. At the center of it is 18-year-old Celeste Guap, a prostitute who said she has had sex with as many as 28 police officers stretching across several counties and agencies, sometimes when she was a minor, sometimes for money and sometimes in exchange for information that would keep her from being arrested.

When she came out to her mother at age 14, Laura Esquivel said her mother was upset for many reasons, but mostly because she was afraid for her.

"She was afraid I wouldn't be happy. Afraid I would get hurt. Afraid how people who would treat me, about the possibility of being physically hurt," said Esquivel, Hispanic Federation national policy director.

Esquivel, who founded one of the first national Latino LGBTQ groups - LLEGO - is mourning the deaths of the victims in the Orlando, Fla. shooting. None of those named as of Monday afternoon were people she knew, but as a Latina and lesbian, talking of the tragedy with an NBC News Latino brought her to tears.

This study provides the first nationally representative data on service contact, police or advocate best practices, and help-seeking obstacles for family violence that involved exposure to children.

Abstract:

Ten best practices were offered in 13–58 percent of police contacts and 34–97 percent of advocate contacts. Most police best practices were associated with increased likelihood of arrest. Referrals and information about restraining orders and shelter were associated with victim-perpetrator separation. There was marked case attrition for all criminal justice services, including reporting to police, in-person police responding, arrest, convictions, and incarceration.

Only 10 cases resulted in jail time. Counter to the hypothesis, higher rates of some police best practices were associated with lower likelihood of advocate contact. Also unexpectedly, higher rates of some obstacles, such as lack of transportation, were associated with higher use of police services. The study recommends referral to specific resources as a focus of crisis intervention efforts. Some family’s needs may be served by a single provider if best practices are used. Some obstacles may influence which services are sought rather than depress helpseeking altogether. These nationally representative data can be used as benchmarks for program evaluations and needs assessments. A nationally representative sample of 517 family-violence incidents was drawn from the 4,503 respondents to the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence II. .(Publisher abstract modified)

A 20-year-old woman missing since late April was found dead on May 16, 2016. The suspect is a former Marine who is a civilian employee of the US military at Kadena Airbase. Local police report that he confessed to the woman's rape and murder, and told them the location of her corpse. This crime comes barely six weeks after a US sailor assigned to Camp Schwab was arrested for the rape of a Japanese woman in a Naha hotel. Following that crime, Lt. General Lawrence Nicholson, III Marine Expeditionary Force commander, visited Prefectural Governor Onaga Takeshi to "express my deepest regret and remorse at the incident."

What General Nicholson called "the incident" is one of more than 500 crimes designated as heinous under Japanese law, including approximately 120 rapes, committed by US forces in Okinawa since it reverted from US military occupation to Japanese administration in 1972. As Takazato Suzuyo points out in her interview below, the 120 reported rapes are only "the tip of an iceberg" since most rapes in Okinawa and elsewhere go unreported.

The April rape and murder was committed on the eve of President Obama's highly publicized trip to Japan for the G-7 Summit and a visit to Hiroshima for a speech advocating nuclear weapons reductions. Shortly after Obama's arrival, he held a meeting with Prime Minister Abe Shinzo to discuss the rape and murder in Okinawa. During their stern-faced appearance before the cameras that followed, Abe told reporters "this is an unforgivable crime, and I have expressed our anger." Obama expressed his "deepest regrets."

Yet official efforts were already underway to downplay and trivialize this latest atrocity as "the Okinawa issue" (沖縄問題), and not the responsibility of the Japanese and US governments for imposing 73% of the American military presence in all of Japan on this small island prefecture.

ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico man is accused of fatally shooting his wife and four daughters in their family home and then fleeing in his car, authorities said Sunday.

Juan David Villegas-Hernandez remained at large a day after the five victims were found dead, Roswell police said.

A relative who went to check on the family late Saturday discovered the bodies, police spokesman Todd Wildermuth said. Officers responded and found all five had suffered gunshot wounds.

A medical examiner will conduct autopsies to confirm the victims' identities and cause of death. But police believe they are Villegas-Hernandez's wife and the couple's children, Wildermuth said. Investigators say the suspect and his 34-year-old wife share four daughters ages 14, 11, 7 and 3.

The shooting likely occurred earlier in the day, Wildermuth said.

Villegas-Hernandez may be driving a red, four-door Ford pickup with New Mexico license plate KJS479.

Zika Crisis Has Exposed Long-Standing Neglect of Women’s Reproductive Health Needs in Latin America and the United States

In Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as in the United States, the Zika epidemic has exposed the often hostile policy, programmatic and legal environment women face on issues surrounding pregnancy, argues a new analysis in the Guttmacher Policy Review. This long-standing failure by policymakers to prioritize women’s health and autonomy has left women—especially those who are poor—more vulnerable to the potential consequences of Zika than they would otherwise be.

How one photographer documented the epidemic of hidden abuse inside our nation’s homes.

It was 1981 and Donna Ferrato wanted to photograph people in love. More precisely, she was interested in swingers who frequented New York’s sex clubs.

And so, she found the perfect polyamorous couple to focus her lens on. They were happy, wealthy and fashionable, and welcomed her into their New Jersey home for weeks at a time so she could intimately document their lives.

But one night, she witnessed something entirely unexpected: The husband brutally attacked his wife, striking her in the face. Ferrato snapped a photo thinking it would make him stop. It didn’t.

She sat on the undeveloped film for months, weighing what to do. Then, she began what has come to define her life’s work: documenting the horrors of domestic violence.

Armed with her camera, she crossed the country visiting domestic violence shelters, emergency rooms, batterers’ programs, police stations and prisons. In 1991, she published Living with the Enemy, a book that, for the very first time, revealed in shocking detail the private violence that went on inside American homes.

Justice and Peace is launching a new call for Human Rights Defenders to participate in the Shelter City Initiative.

The Shelter City Initiative offers human rights defenders a possibility for rest and respite by letting them escape temporarily from a threatening situation. Shelter City is a last resort when shelter in the region is not possible and the safety of the human rights defender in question cannot be guaranteed. The programme’s objective is to offer the human rights defender a shelter for three months, during which she/he will rest, build up capacity and extend her/his network. At the end of the programme, participants are expected to return with new tools and energy to carry out their work at home. An important principle of the Shelter City Initiative is that human rights defenders continue their work while they are temporarily relocated.

From September 2016, several cities in The Netherlands will receive human rights defenders for a period of three months. We are looking for human rights defenders who might be helped with a short relocation programme, because they are threatened or under intense pressure due to their work. Please circulate this message to all interested candidates who you may know.

Applicants must fulfil the following conditions:

The HRD can be a human rights defender in the broad sense of the word (lawyers, members of NGOs, poets or artists can all apply, as long as their work promotes Human Rights or he/she fights against human rights violations)

The HRD is threatened or otherwise under intense pressure and can be helped by a short period of time abroad

The HRD should be able and willing to return to the country of origin after 3 months

The HRD should be willing to speak out in public

The HRD should be willing/able to come alone, as there is currently no possibility for HRDs to come to The Netherlands with their partner and/or family under the Shelter City program

The HRD has to be willing to come to the Netherlands around September 2016

The HRDs can make use of their period in The Netherlands to rest; build up their capacities through various courses and trainings, network and raise awareness about the situation in their country.

To apply or submit the application of a human rights defender, please e-mailsheltercity@justiceandpeace.nl. You will then receive an application form. Application forms must be returned before 24 June 2016. An independent commission will select the participants.

Note that the selected human rights defenders will not be automatically allowed into the shelter programme as Justice and Peace is not in control of issuing the required visas to enter The Netherlands.

AUDIO DOCUMENTARY: The new fight against teen sex trafficking

May 2016

Advocates for kids are pushing for a new approach to combating underage prostitution: treating young people caught up in sex trafficking as victims, not delinquents. We embed in a police sting, visit a horse ranch for young victims of trafficking in Minnesota, and visit male sex-buyers in Seattle who are trying to change their ways. This documentary examines how police and lawmakers are increasingly turning to a public health approach to help vulnerable young people break free of sex trafficking. And it explores efforts to stop traffickers and buyers. More …

Resources

He says he wants to speak out against “binge drinking and sexual promiscuity,” but won’t admit his guilt.

Convicted sex offender Brock Turner argued in letters submitted in court that his behavior on the night of his crime was due to alcohol and a party culture on campus, something some of his supporters suggested as well.

The Huffington Post obtained court documents this week, including letters of support for Turner submitted to the Judge Aaron Perksy and a report from the probation officer in his case, after the former Stanford University student’s conviction.

Turner and his family have not acknowledged in any of their statements that he committed a sexual assault, let alone a crime. He sexually assaulted an unconscious woman next to a dumpster on Stanford’s Palo Alto campus, digitally penetrating the woman, near a fraternity party where he met her. Two graduate students passing by interrupted him and pinned him down as other witnesses called police.

Why is his case so important?

This week’s guilty verdict against Habré was celebrated not just in the courtroom in Senegal and back in Chad, but also by human rights advocates around the globe. That’s because the trial represented a number of historic firsts:

1. Habré’s case is the first time that one country has prosecuted another country’s former leader for human rights abuses. This is a crucial step in the development of universal jurisdiction.

2. War crimes trials are usually heard by international tribunals. The Extraordinary African Chambers offered an alternative model: a hybrid court using local laws but relying on international funds and expertise. Some experts suggest this model could be more efficient and cost-effective than the international court option. Others note that such hybrid courts can help rebuild justice systems and public trust in countries recovering from conflict.

3. Habré is the first African former head of state to be tried and convicted by an African Union-backed court. The efficacy of African-led justice is particularly important in light of high-profile criticism in the region that the International Criminal Court unfairly targets Africans.

4. Habré is also the first ex-leader to be personally convicted of rape by another nation’s court, according to rights groups, who hope the verdict will send a message that violence against women will not go unpunished, whoever the perpetrator.

5. The case is also being hailed as a major victory for justice pushed by the victims themselves and a possible inspiration to survivors of other atrocities that they, too, can hold despots to account. The case against Habré was built painstakingly over the years by torture survivors and human rights champions from Chad, with the support of international rights groups.

Thanks to everyone who came to the Battered Mothers Custody Conference and to the wonderful Mothers of Lost Children White House demonstration and lobby day in Washington DC.

We will be going to DC again in October 2016, Domestic Violence Awareness month. Why October? The research we are doing shows that nearly all protective mothers and their abused children have been victims of domestic violence. Please consider joining us. We need to keep reminding our elected representatives about these outrageous human rights violations.

The Heroic Mothers of Lost Children by Phyllis Chesler May 17, 2016

The prevailing myth was that women had an unfair advantage in custody battles and that men were discriminated against. This was not true then, and it is not true today.

Just as the Argentinean mothers of the Plaza de Mayo boldly demonstrated on behalf of their missing children, known as the "desaparecidos" (both young and adult children disappeared by a military junta), just so are American mothers crying out and publicly demonstrating about their lost children.

Yes, I am talking about children who are lost to their mothers, and mothers who are lost to their children due to the most profound and toxic bias against women in the American family court system.

Petition Congress for oversight hearings on the Family Court systematic harming of children

There is a cover-up occurring in another powerful, venerated institution, which in many ways mirrors the practices that facilitated the Catholic Church child abuse scandal. For decades, in Family Courts across the nation, women who have tried to protect their children from an abusive father have been attacked and battered by a ruthless system which dismisses or ignores physical abuse, verbal threats, and even documented criminal histories of fathers in a obsessive effort to attain their stated goal - joint custody at all costs. Money too, fuels the atrocities in the courts.

Anyone who knows of a reason why any of the records listed should be retained, whether for historical or other reasons, should notify Joseph Lane, Clerk/Executive Officer of the Court. The reasons for retention should be sent in writing to the address below by June 30, 2016.

Joseph Lane Clerk/Executive Officer of the Court
Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District
300 South Sprint Street
Second Floor, North Tower
Los Angeles, CA 90013

Dear Mom, I'm so Sorry You Grew Up Living With Domestic ViolenceBy Brian F. Martin

Founder of CDV.ORG & author of the New York Times Bestseller INVINCIBLE: The 10 Lies You Learn Growing Up With Domestic Violence & the Truths to Set You Free

Dear Mom, I'm so Sorry You Grew Up Living With Domestic Violence

05/05/2016

A card for Mother's Day takes time to pick out. For a person who grew up living with domestic violence, it takes even longer. There is so much they want to say, but Hallmark hasn't quite captured the language.

If I were to write one, I would probably start out with, "On this Mother's Day, I want to tell you something that I never told you. 'I'm so sorry that you grew up living with domestic violence.'"

If you are a protective mother in the United Kingdom and would like to be filmed for What Doesn't Kill Me, a documentary about custody and domestic violence, please contact Rachel Meyrick at Whatdoesntkillme@icloud.com

Film trailer for "What doesn't kill me" a documentary

Why Self-Compassion Works Better Than Self-Esteem

Here are some ways to comfort yourself, and teach your children to do the same, even in the midst of this terrible war against mothers and children.

Why Self-Compassion Works Better Than Self-Esteem

Boosting your ego won't make you feel better. Instead, try talking to yourself like you would your best friend.

By Olga Khazan

May 6, 2016

In 1986, California state assemblyman John Vasconcellos came up with what he believed could be "a vaccine for major social ills" like teen pregnancy and drug abuse: a special task-force to promote self-esteem among Californians. The effort folded three years later, and was widely considered not to have accomplished much.

To Kristin Neff, a psychology professor at the University of Texas, that's not surprising. Though self-esteem continues to reverberate as a pop-psych cure-all, the quest for inflated egos, in her view, is misguided and largely pointless.

There's nothing wrong with being confident, to answer Demi Lovato's question. The trouble is how we try to achieve high self-regard. Often, it's by undermining others or comparing our achievements to those around us. That's not just unsustainable, Neff argues, it can also lead to narcissism or depressive bouts during hard times.

Neff proposes a better path: Self-compassion. In other words, treating yourself just like you would your best friends, even when they (you) screw up.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden — The Swedish government says women in Burma can count on its support in furthering gender equality and protecting them from violence over the next four years.

Under Sweden’s recently adopted National Action Plan for 2016-20, Burma has been identified as one of 12 specially prioritized conflict or post-conflict countries struggling to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and subsequent resolutions on Women, Peace and Security.

With Burma home to the world’s longest-running ongoing armed conflict, Burmese women have suffered sexual violence and other forms of abuse in conflict-affected areas for decades. In the country’s ongoing peace process, women have largely been excluded from participation, and women’s rights advocates say the few women who are officially involved in negotiations are not accorded the same voice as their male counterparts.

The action plan adopted earlier this month is mainly focused on strengthening women’s participation in the country’s peace process and state-building, and protecting them from harm. Efforts will be underpinned by the crux of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325: Passed in 2000, it highlights “the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction and stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security.”

The structure of the action plan emphasizes approaching issues of Women, Peace and Security from a gendered perspective.

Prosecuting human trafficking is widely viewed as one of the main pillars of an effective national response to trafficking. But worldwide, the number of prosecutions for trafficking and related exploitation remains stubbornly low, especially when compared to the generally accepted size of the problem. Very few traffickers are ever brought to justice and the criminal justice system rarely operates to benefit those who have been trafficked.

Issue 6 of the Anti-Trafficking Review analyses human trafficking prosecutions in different regions of the world and from a range of different perspectives. With five themed articles focusing on Russia, the United States, the Balkans and Western Europe, the issue provides important insights into the practical and policy issues surrounding human trafficking prosecutions.

BRASÍLIA — Shortly after midnight on Wednesday, 20-year-old Michel Brasil da Silva uploaded a 30-second clip to Twitter, accompanied by the words: “They smashed the chick. Do you get it or do you not get it? lol”

The clip showed an undressed, unconscious woman lying on a bare mattress. She was being filmed by two men, both fully dressed, who took turns manhandling and mocking her.

“This one just got knocked up by 30 guys,” one of them says.

“Check out the state she’s in. Bleeding,” says the other, directing the camera toward her visibly injured genitals. At one point, the man positioned his head next to the unresponsive woman’s buttocks, stuck out his tongue, and took a selfie.